Representative prior art illustrative of motor vehicle headlights includes U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,146,812 (Gagnon) and 4,181,869 (B. Warren et al), both of which are assigned to the same assignee as the instant invention. In particular, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,181,869, there is disclosed a tungsten-halogen lamp sealed in a reflector envelope employing lead-in conductors (wires) which pass through the reflector and are adapted for being supported by an eyelet and associated lug member. The eyelet extends through an aperture in the glass reflector while the lug interconnects with the eyelet and is adapted to receive an electrical connector external of the reflector envelope.
During the assembly and manufacture of headlights of the above variety, an adhesive such as an epoxy resin in a paste or semi-liquid form is dispensed into cavities or apertures in the glass reflector in order to provide improved sealing of the glass reflector to the aforementioned metallic lug and eyelet. Because of manufacturing variations in the size of the reflector's openings which are to be filled, as well as manufacturing variations in the assembly process, the proper amount of epoxy adhesive necessary to fill the orifice or orifices varies from lamp to lamp. During the manufacturing process, to be on the safe side, it is thus preferred to dispense more (an excess) adhesive than might be needed. Therefore, in prior at headlights when the lug was fastened to the eyelet and glass, the excess epoxy was often squeezed out to the outside edges of the lug and occasionally onto the glass reflector. This in turn caused problems both in the handling and additional processing of the headlight through the remainder of the assembly procedure. For example, there was often a charring of the exces epoxy which occurred during a subsequent soldering step, resulting in an unsightly appearance of the finished product. In addition, excess adhesive often caused "bad solder" defects as a result of its being present on surfaces of the lug and/or eyelet which eventually receive the solder typically employed on headlights to secure the headlight's lead-in support wire relative to the eyelet and contact lug members.